[petrarkaponye]

I prefer the one that states that a single cell of e coli through replication could - under ideal conditions - create a colony the size of planet Earth in one day.

The numbers probably aren't completely accurate, but it's close enough to really put the power (hurr) of exponential growth in perspective.

can you find that pic or link for me? I'm taking microbiology this semester. my professor might get a kick out of it.

[baxodrom]

Same comparison could be made for any normal windows pc from 2000 compared to say any windows pda of today.

[auctionlover]

can you find that pic or link for me? I'm taking microbiology this semester. my professor might get a kick out of it.

It's not correct, unfortunately. A single E Coli bacterium is approximately 2 microns in length and if one assumes it has a width and height of 0.5 microns (see this image) with a rectangular shape, each one would have a volume of 0.5 microns cubed or 5 x 10^-19 m3. Assuming perfect conditions, no cell deaths and that this source is correct for the reproduction rate, in one day a single bacterium would replicate to a total number of 4.72 x 10^21 cells. That would produce a total volume of 2361 m3. The volume of the Earth can be estimated to about 1.08 x 10^21 m3 - meaning that the volume of bacteria is well short of being anything like the size of the Earth. It's short (by a factor of 100,000) even if one looks at surface area (total area of cells = 4.72 x 10^9 m2, surface area of Earth = 5.1 x 10^14 m2).

However, one can still generate scary sounding numbers with the bacteria growth trick: put each E Coli end to end and under perfect conditions, they would reach to a total distance of 9 x 10^15 m or 90 million million kilometres. That's virtually equal to 1 light year.

[erelvenewmeva]

Had the comparison done between an Apple Newton and iPhone, the devices would have been atleast designed for the same potential customer base.



A real comparison, not just trying to amaze with technical details which hardly even tells if the device is usable for the intended user or not.

meh... [yawn]

[gDGwm8BC]

that pic just tells me that they are just as **** now as they were 10 years ago.

in fact they are worse now

[avavavava]

It's not correct, unfortunately. A single E Coli bacterium is approximately 2 microns in length and if one assumes it has a width and height of 0.5 microns (see [url=http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/everyday/agriculture/images/e_coli.jpg]this[/image] image) with a rectangular shape, each one would have a volume of 0.5 microns cubed or 5 x 10^-19 m3. Assuming perfect conditions, no cell deaths and that this source is correct for the reproduction rate, in one day a single bacterium would replicate to a total number of 4.72 x 10^21 cells. That would produce a total volume of 2361 m3. The volume of the Earth can be estimated to about 1.08 x 10^21 m3 - meaning that the volume of bacteria is well short of being anything like the size of the Earth. It's short (by a factor of 100,000) even if one looks at surface area (total area of cells = 4.72 x 10^9 m2, surface area of Earth = 5.1 x 10^14 m2).

However, one can still generate scary sounding numbers with the bacteria growth trick: put each E Coli end to end and under perfect conditions, they would reach to a total distance of 9 x 10^15 m or 90 million million kilometres. That's virtually equal to 1 light year.

Going by mass (I believe a single E Coli bacterium is 7.0 × 10^-13 grams), wouldn't it take about 44 hours and 20 minutes (133 cycles) for the colony to approach the size of the Earth (5.9763 x 10^24 kg)? I'm the dumbest human alive when it comes to math, but I came up with 3.81116251 × 10^24 kg, coming up just short with the next cycle surpassing it.

[auctionlover]

Yep, that's what I make it too, so your earlier post would be accurate for 1.8 days (at least in terms of mass).

[petrarkaponye]

Going by mass (I believe a single E Coli bacterium is 7.0 × 10^-13 grams), wouldn't it take about 44 hours and 20 minutes (133 cycles) for the colony to approach the size of the Earth (5.9763 x 10^24 kg)? I'm the dumbest human alive when it comes to math, but I came up with 3.81116251 × 10^24 kg, coming up just short with the next cycle surpassing it.

Yep, that's what I make it too, so your earlier post would be accurate for 1.8 days (at least in terms of mass).

great info guys. pretty amazing, regardless.

[bortycuz]

Singulairty Hub has an image up that perfectly illustrates Moore's law and exponential growth.

What’s the difference between the high-end iMac desktop computer of 2000 and the iPhone 4G of 2010? A few pixels, £1000, and a lot of weight. Photographer Brett Jordan’s “10 Years” infographic masterfully illustrates the power of Moore’s Law and exponential growth by comparing these popular Apple products (see full scale photo below). While the prices have to be adjusted a little depending on where you live (in the US it’s about $1200 for the iMac G3, and $599 for the iPhone 4G) the overall truth is universal. The computing power in our hands is growing at an astounding rate that we may not realize on a day to day basis. This same growth, albeit in an earlier stage, is occurring in solar power, DNA sequencing, and other technologies. Trends like these are what make many of us believe that humanity is moving towards a developmental Singularity in the years ahead. No matter what your vision of the future, however, you can’t deny the past ten years of astounding growth in computing. Jordan’s work gives us a view of a decade of change shown side by side. It’s more than a little awe-inspiring.

[TheBest-Host]

Meh [yawn]

[Adeniinteme]

Wouldn't it have made more sense to compare it to an iMac? Yes a PDA costs less than a desktop. "masterfully illustrates" my ass!

[bortycuz]

I hate macs and all but i think it makes the point well, and the point is to demonstrate that the same machine you spent a grand on in the year 2000 now fits in the palm of your hand and costs half the price (with better performance).

[h0ldem]

Wait wait, you are telling me technology gets better over time? NO WAY.

[fgfblog]

Wait wait, you are telling me technology gets better over time? NO WAY.

No, hes not. We know that. Title: Exponential Growth, in perspective.

[stuntduood]

Yes it's great but I hate comparisons like this.

The iMac used CRT technology which has been around for many decades. Taking that out would have shrunk the size and reduced the weight a lot. There's also stuff like a CD/DVD-ROM drive in there that is not shrinkable and absent from the Iphone 4.

Anyway, pedantic side out.

[FinanseMikky]

Nice picture, but yeah a notebook or even the current version of the Mac desktop would have been more appropriate.

[illignocearia]

Anyone else amused by the use of a much smaller product to illustrate growth?

[ditpiler]

they both don't have right click, it is a fair comparison.

[Allorneadesee]

Anyone else amused by the use of a much smaller product to illustrate growth?

Indeed. I wonder how the comparison will look like when you go 2000 vs 2100. The latter will have the device as small as a fingernail.

they both don't have right click, it is a fair comparison.

Hahhaha, iProblem!

[SiM7W2zi]

I didnt know you could phone people on the old Mac's!

WAY ahead of their time!